Summer Holiday
by WindMadeSolid
Summary: Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione there was another group of Gryffindor mates: James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. What were they like? I try to give my spin on this mystery with a short story about their summer holiday right after their fifth year. NEW CH.!
1. The Boys are Back in Town

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the talented J.K. Rowling.

The Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop at Kings Cross Station and students immediately started filing out, saying last farewells to their friends and happy greetings to their families. In the midst of the commotion, four sixteen year old boys exited the last car at the end of the train, dragging their trunks behind them.

"OOF!" James Potter, last to de-board, grunted as he yanked his trunk down the stairs of the train and let it fall onto the platform with a huge bang. "Well, mates, I guess this is it!" He said while throwing his arms around the shoulders of the two boys standing closest to him, pretending to be teary-eyed and sobbing. "We all must say farewell for the summer!" He squeezed his two friends hard.

"ARGH! James! You're hurting me, you git!" Sirius Black exclaimed, pulling away from James and shoving him hard. He grinned widely, "And you know I'm staying with you this summer anyway- so cut the dramatics."

"Yeah, James, really," Remus Lupin said while James clenched his shoulder even more intensely and shook him, still pretending to be weeping. A smile crept across his face. "It's not like I'm going to miss you or anything. This summer will be a most pleasant holiday without your antics."

James feigned shock and clasped his hand over his heart. "Ouch, that hurts me deeply!" He staggered around on the platform for a few seconds, faking grief at what Remus said. He finally came to a standstill in front of the fourth boy, straightened, shook his hand formally, and adopted a posh accent. "Good-bye, Wormtail, old chap! I do hope you have a splendid holiday. Please remember to write, and I'll see you in August!"

Petter Pettigew laughed out loud as a small mousy looking witch pushing a trolley approached the boys. James bowed low to her and continued speaking in his posh voice, "Oh, Mrs. Pettigew, how lovely to see you! You are just as beautiful as our last meeting!"

Mrs. Pettigew beamed at James. "Hello, James. Hello, Sirius. Hello, Remus." She nodded to each boy in turn as they voiced a return greeting. "Come along, Peter, your father is waiting outside the station with the portkey, we have three minutes until it is set to activate."

Peter heaved his trunk onto the trolley then turned to his friends and waved. "So long, guys!"

"Bye!" James, Sirius, and Remus called in stereo.

"We'll be in touch! I want everyone to visit my place before the summer is out!" James shouted above the bustle of the train station as Peter and his mother walked off. Peter acknowledged him with one final wave.

"Right, then, we better find my folks," James said, straining his neck to try to see above the crowd. "They'll be around here somewhere."

Just then a tall and extremely thin boy with black, greasy hair passed the trio. James and Sirius narrowed their eyes and sneered evilly.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Sirius?" James asked him. His hand was reaching into what would have been the folds of a wizard's robe had he been wearing one.

"Watch it, Prongs," Remus said, a mention of caution in his voice, "There are Muggles everywhere." He chuckled and his tone changed, "Besides, you've already changed out of your robes and your wand is squared away in your trunk."

"Oh, yeah, forgot." James sighed. "What a lost opportunity."

"I heard that, Potter!" A shrill voice from behind made the boys jump. They turned around and Lily Evans, tall with thick auburn hair flowing over her shoulders, hands on her hips and emerald eyes blazing, was standing right behind them.

James once again jumped into a grandiose persona, this time trying to cover up the fact that she had, once again, caught him in the act of trying to curse Severus Snape. He threw his arms out wide. "Evans! Come to say good-bye for the summer?"

"Get real, Potter." Lily's face scrunched up in distain. "Only friends say good-bye for the summer to friends."

James flashed a smile at Lily. "So you want to be friends, is that what you're saying, Evans? Great, I accept."

Lily's face hardened and she rolled her eyes slightly. "I'm not friends with egotistical bullies, you git. You need to learn that being James Potter doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to whoever happens to be in your path. Now get out of my way, I want to get through."

James, Sirius, and Remus stepped aside as, with a flip of her head, she pushed her trolley past the boys. "Have a good summer, Remus," she called over her shoulder.

"Aww, Lily! Come on, it was only Snape! No one likes him anyway! And I didn't even do anything!" James called after her. She ignored him. He turned back to his friends.

"Women." He said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Hey, wait a minute!" Something suddenly dawned on him. "Why is she saying good-bye to _you_, Moony? Are you trying to steal my girl! Because if you are that is cold- you know I've been sweet on her since second year!"

Sirius tried to stifle a laugh, but succeeded only in snorting loudly, scaring a nearby baby in his mother's arms. The witch gave the boys a dirty look and kept on walking. Remus laughed too, only didn't try to hide it.

"You really can be an idiot sometimes, Prongs," Remus said as Sirius grabbed two abandoned trolleys and pulled them over to where they were standing.

"What? Why?" James asked as he helped Sirius lift the trunks onto the trolleys.

"They're prefects together, you dolt, haven't you noticed?" Sirius explained. "They spent most of the year chasing after mischievous first years and making sure you and I didn't accidentally blow apart Gryffindor Tower. Besides, old Moony hasn't gotten over his crush on my cousin Andromeda yet- he couldn't possibly like anyone else."

Remus blushed a dark crimson.

They headed off with the trunk laden trolleys in search of James' family. Realization suddenly spread on James face and his steps became lighter.

"So, Moony, you and Lily are friends?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Does she talk about me?"

"Only when you are up to no good."

"What does she say!"

"Well she summed it up two minutes ago, but I can recant for you: you are a conceited jerk who needs a kick in the pants. Yeah, something like that. Oh, once she said you were kind of cute, but I think she might have been joking. Hey, there's my dad, I better go! Call me soon- you guys know my Floo Network portal's name!"

With an impish smirk over his shoulder Remus trotted off quickly towards his father.

"Moony, waaaaiiiit! Did she really say that! Oh come on- are you serious? You cannot just leave me here not knowing!"

"Would you guys give it a rest? For Merlin's sake, you are making more din than the whole station combined. I swear you guys think you own the world." A handsome black haired boy, slightly younger than James and Sirius slid up besides them, pushing his own trolley.

"Get lost, Regulus. Shouldn't you be cantering off to find your mother like a good little mummy's boy?" Sirius' face turned dark and he looked at the boy with disgust. The two teenagers, although Sirius was a few inches taller, were like mirror images of each other.

Regulus' jaw clenched. "You just wish Mother acknowledged you so you wouldn't have to live with filthy Muggle-lovers." James made to deck Regulus but Sirius held his arm back. "But, oh that's right- you _are_ a Muggle-lover too- tell me, Sirius, how does it feel to be a blood traitor ashamed of your own heritage, rejected by the only worthwhile House at Hogwarts, and hated by your whole family?"

"It feels great, actually. I can focus on my _real _family at school." Sirius fired back coolly.

Regulus raised his eyebrows as if he pitied Sirius. "Oh _riiiight_, Sirius, keep telling yourself that you fit into Gryffindor, maybe someday you and the rest of Hogwarts will believe it. But hey, if you never do, you can always come crawling back to the Blacks and beg to be a Slytherin. Why don't you practice your speech now- any words of repentance I can repeat to our parents so we can laugh at you at the dinner table and plan a fitting rejection?"

"Yeah, sure, I have a message- tell them to go to hell, take you with them, and stay there," Sirius growled. Without looking back, he and James walked through the barrier that transported them from Platform 9 ¾ to the rest of Kings Cross.

"You should have let me clock him, Padfoot," James said, fuming.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Prongs, but he's not worth it. He would never have approached us if we hadn't been without our wands. Notice how at Hogwarts he never comes within fifty feet of us." Sirius replied.

"True- I do believe your dear brother is quite lacking in the brains and talent department. He couldn't curse the warts off a toad. No offence, of course."

Sirius laughed. "Absolutely none taken, my friend."

Finally they found Mr. and Mrs. Potter standing near a side entrance of the station. Mrs. Potter hugged each boy in succession while Mr. Potter clapped a hand on their shoulders repeatedly.

"Are you boys hungry?" Mr. Potter boomed in his commanding but not unkind voice. "We have fish and chips waiting for you at home." James and Sirius nodded in response.

Together everyone walked out of the station, Mrs. Potter asking the boys questions about their journey and telling them how happy she was to have them back, and the boys enjoying her motherly attention. With a quick look around them, Mr. Potter pulled a Muggle ballpoint pen out of his back pocket and lead them to an out of the way nook in the building. He held out the pen and Sirius, James, and Mrs. Potter grasped onto a part of it with their index finger and thumb. Each one felt a jerking sensation in their navel and the station swirled away as they were transported to the Potter's home.

A/N: My first time publishing on fanfiction, I'm so excited! This is the first part of a two part story, so chapter two will be up when I finish it. I have a whole bunch of mini stories pertaining to the young Mauraders, Lily, and Snape planned so please review this story so I can gauge how I'm doing! Thanks!


	2. Lunch at the Potters

Thanks to Lisa for reviewing, I appreciate it! Also thank you to my sister, even though she didn't leave a note and said she thought my log-in name was dorky. -)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, literary genius. -)

A few weeks into the summer, Remus and Peter visit James and Sirius at James' house. Life goes on, even though Voldemort and Death Eaters are causing havoc in London.

When the clock on the Potter's mantle struck noon with deep, resounding gongs, James and Sirius stood up from their spots on the couch and looked at the fireplace with expectation. After a few uneventful minutes, Sirius looked at James with a puzzled expression. James shrugged back in response.

Mrs. Potter stuck her head out from behind the swinging door that led into the kitchen. "James, aren't your friends Peter and Remus visiting today?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm sure they're on their way."

"Well, just let me know when they arrive. I have lunch all set out for you boys. I made Sirius' favorite: corned beef sandwitches!" She smiled at Sirius.

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter!" Sirius said enthusiastically. Mrs. Potter disappeared back into the kitchen.

James rolled his eyes and pretended to be put off. "Oh, that's nice! My own mother likes my best friend better than me!"

"Knock it off, she's just being nice. She knows what a horrible, cold tyrant my mother is and feels sorry for me." Sirius grinned smugly back at James.

"Yeah, you do play that pity card pretty well, Padfoot," James retorted, then focused back onto the fireplace. "What the devil do you think is keeping them?"

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe the portal is blocked. When was the last time you had it cleaned?" He bent down and peered into the empty fireplace. James bent down beside him and also stuck his face into the brick enclave.

"Shoot, I have no idea. We've never had a problem with it before."

"It's not like Moony to be late."

"Yeah, but he has Wormtail with him."

"Too true, Prongs."

"Well, they need to get here soon, I'm hungr- aaaaargh!"

In a cloud of dust and ash, Peter appeared out of nowhere, toppled onto James and Sirius, and knocked them over backwards. He tried to stand straight up, hit his head on the bottom of the mantle with a loud "OW!", then carefully stepped out of the fireplace, and around his two friends laying on the floor.

"Sorry, guys. Uh, what were you doing in the fireplace?" Peter asked, dusting himself off. A second later, Remus appeared where Peter had stood, ducking down to avoid hitting his head.

"Bloody hell, could your fireplace be any lower?" Remus exclaimed, looking down at James and Sirius, who were still strewn about on the floor, covered in soot. Remus chuckled, "Pair of chimney sweeps you two are, what happened?" He held out his hand to Sirius who took it and stood up. Peter did the same for James.

"You guys were late. We were checking the portal to see if it was blocked." James said, shaking ash off of his t-shirt. He looked around him and saw dirt all over the carpet. "Oh, man, Mom's gonna kill me!"

Once again the swinging door opened. "James, what is that racket? Are the boys here yet? GOODNESS!" She took in the sight of four teenage boys covered in soot, standing on soiled carpet, pursed her lips and shook her head. "What happened in here?"

"Err," James started.

"Nevermind, I don't want to know." Mrs. Potter pulled her wand out of her pocket and with a "Scourgify!" the room and boys were dirt free. "Now get washed up for lunch before the crup jumps up and eats all of the sandwiches!"

Five minutes later, after everyone had washed their hands, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting at the Potter's kitchen table eating their fill of corned beef sandwiches and drinking bottle after bottle of butterbeer. James' crup, Mickey, sat on his haunches begging for scraps which James occasionally tossed his way. In the middle of the kitchen, Mrs. Potter sat at the island on a high stool, listening to the Wizarding Wireless and absentmindedly thumbing through _Witch Weekly_.

"Sooo, Moony," James said between large bites of corned beef, "Heard from Lily lately?"

"No, why would I?" Remus asked, looking perplexed.

Mrs. Potter's head shot up from her magazine, a large grin forming on her face. "Who's Lily?"

James tried to ignore his mother and shrugged nonchalantly at Remus. "Uh, I dunno. Don't prefects usually write to each other over the summer about prefect things? You know, new disciplinary plans of attack, fantastical tours of Hogwarts for first years, et cetera, et cetera."

Sirius guffawed. "Oh yeah, Prongs! I heard they are making up a new "disciplinary plan of attack": tail you every second of every day and catch you every time you making mischief in the halls."

"Like you can talk, Padfoot- you're always right there with him!" Remus shot back, laughing. "And no, I haven't been in contact with Lily."

"Who's Lily?" Mrs. Potter interjected, louder this time. "Do you have a girlfriend, James?"

It was Peter's turn to laugh, spraying bits of food everywhere. "HAHAHA! No way! Lily hates James!"

"Hey, shut up, Wormtail! She does not!"

"Oh yeah? Then why does she always she call you a git, jerk, or idiot whenever you two speak?" Peter said.

"He's got you there," Sirius said.

James shrugged, "She's just playing hard to get! Besides, Moony said she told him she thought I was cute!"

"He just said that to get a rise out of you, dummy," Sirius responded, finishing a bottle of butterbeer with a quick swig and putting it back down on the table.

James shook his head. "I think he was serious. Weren't you, Remus?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Wouldn't you like to know, eh?" Remus responded aloofly.

James made to say something else but Mrs. Potter shushed him. A loud beeping noise was coming from the radio, indicating that a special report was about to be announced. Mrs. Potter turned up the volume on the radio.

"_We have just been notified by the Ministry of Magic that there has been another mysterious explosion on a Muggle double-decker bus in London, believed to be the work of followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The Minister of Magic has announced that it has teams of aurors on task to investigate and that aurors are working overtime keeping guard twenty-four hours a day for suspicious activity. The Minister of Magic stresses to the public the need to stay calm and to always be on guard. Stay tuned for more information…"_

Mrs. Potter's face was pale and the four boys looked from one another in silence. Mickey, sensing the tension in the air, whined softly and slid underneath James' chair.

"That's the third Muggle attack this month- those poor people!" Mrs. Potter breathed. She looked at the tiny microwave sized fireplace next to the stove as if expecting to see a face there. Sure enough, seconds later a man's face appeared.

"Sorry to bother you on your day off, Elizabeth, no doubt you've heard the news, though. The Ministry needs all aurors at headquarters, pronto. Your husband is already there."

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Certainly, Moody, I'm on my way." The man's face disappeared from the small fireplace and Mrs. Potter turned to the boys.

"I don't know when I'll be back, James, but you and Sirius can manage, right?"

"Sure, Mom."

"We'll be alright, Mrs. Potter, don't worry about us!" Sirius tried to reassure her.

"Excellent. Please behave yourselves." She smiled at the boys and with a loud crack she apparated away.

Sirius let out a low whistle.

"Exactly," James responded.

"I guess my dad's gone to help, too." Peter said, looking worried. His father was also an auror.

"Don't worry, Wormtail, the aurors know what to do. Someday they're gonna kick Voldemort's ass for good!" Everyone jumped at the mention of Voldemort's name.

"For crying out, loud, James, don't say his name!" Peter squeaked.

"Why?" James stood up and started clearing the table. "I'm not afraid of him. Neither are my parents. As soon as I graduate from Hogwarts I'm going to join the aurors and help fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Let's hope that they get him before that," Remus said, picking up his own plate and placing it in the sink where James had put the rest of the dishes. James took out his wand, waved it over the sink and immediately it filled with water and a soapy scrub brush started to move across the dishes.

"Can you do that?" Peter asked, eyes wide, pointing to the sink.

Sirius laughed, "Of course, don't be such a nervous nelly, Wormtail! We're in a wizard house, there's so much magic going on around here, no Underage Magic Detector is going to be able to figure out who performs what spell. James and I are always practicing, Mr. and Mrs. Potter don't care."

"My mom never lets me practice," Peter said, sounding disappointed.

"It's just as well, Peter," Remus said reassuringly, "it's just a matter of time before those bozos get a warning letter. The Ministry isn't as dumb as they think it is. And maybe an anonymous tip might expedite the process." He grinned slyly at Sirius and James.

"You wouldn't!" James exclaimed.

"Of course he wouldn't you git," Sirius countered, "He's just pulling your leg. I swear, you are such a hothead, James. Now, who wants to play some quidditch?"

"Me!" James, Remus, and Peter said, racing to the Potter's backyard.

A/N Ok, so when I said there would only be two chapters I didn't know what I was talking about, haha. I sort of let this write itself and I liked where it went, so I put off writing what I had previously thought the original chapter two would be. So be on the lookout for at least one more chapter!


	3. Andromeda Comes to Visit

_Thanks again to Lisa for the nice comments, and to Jennycake, who was nice enough to review, too! Enjoy!_

* * *

**The Mauraders get a visit from Andromeda Tonks, we get a peek at what is my guess the Black family drama is like, and of course- some more good old, unadulturated Maurader dialogue! Oh, and a random non-Harry Potter movie quote is thrown in there somewhere, along with a horribly cheesy "royal" pun.**

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling... as if you didn't already know!

Disclaimer part deux: The "random movie quote" is from _Miss Congeniality_

After playing quidditch in James' back yard for hours, the boys came back inside as the sun was going down.

"Woo, I'm beat!" James sighed while he plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table, wiping sweat from his forehead. He looked tired, but happy. "That was a great game. Your flying has definitely improved, Wormtail."

Peter's face lit up. "Wow! You really think so! I haven't been practicing at home or anything- Mum won't let me- but I _was_ concentrating more this time…"

"Calm down before you have an accident, sheesh." James interrupted him. "I'm not saying you'd make the Gryffindor team or anything," Peter's face fell. "But yeah, you've improved."

Remus patted Peter's shoulder, "Don't feel bad, Peter, you don't want to be on the team anyway- it's totally bereft of leadership." Peter laughed and cheered up again.

"Shut up, Moony! It so happens that the team thinks I'm a great Captain! We weren't undefeated last season for nothing!" James looked indignant. He rose from the table. "Anyone hungry?"

Everyone nodded an affirmative. James crossed the kitchen and opened a cupboard next to the sink. Boxes of all sizes and colors were sitting on the shelves inside.

"We can use one of these Mrs. Marcy's Easy Make dinner kits, I've watched my parents use them all the time. Do we want chicken, ham, or roast beef?" James asked, poking at three boxes right in front.

"I don't care, it all sounds good," Sirius said, pulling butterbeers out of the refrigerator.

Remus looked at Peter. "Chicken?" Peter nodded enthusiastically.

"Chicken it is then," James pulled down a large yellow box. "Now let's see how this works…" He peered at the instructions on the back of the box and pointing his wand at the box, said the incantation printed there. The box trembled for a few seconds, lifted out of his hand, and hovered a foot above his head. The boys looked on in amazement as potatoes and carrots floated out of it and onto the counter where a knife and cutting board materialized and started to quickly cut the vegetables into pieces. Seconds later, a whole chicken, already in a pan, squeezed out of the box and floated to the oven. As the oven door opened to let the chicken in the cutting board full of chopped carrots and potatoes glided over and dumped them into the pan along with the chicken. Then the pan full of chicken and vegetables dropped onto the rack in the oven and the oven door closed shut. The oven flipped on, and its timer set itself.

James grabbed the box out of the air and took a second look at the back. "I thought rolls were included with the dinner as well."

Just then, with eighteen individual tiny pops, a dozen and a half balls of dough sprung out of the box and landed on a baking sheet, which also came out of the box.

"Wicked," Peter said.

"Interesting," Remus mused.

"If cooking can be that easy, why does my mother insist on having house elves to prepare meals?" Sirius joked.

"Because she is a miserable, grumpy elitist and it works for her?" James said, putting his wand in his back pocket.

The boys laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it, Prongs," Sirius said, laughing so hard he was holding his stomach.

"C'mon, let's watch Muggle Television until dinner's ready," James said, pushing through the swinging door and going into the family room. He had just flipped on the television when the doorbell chimed.

"Who could that be?" Sirius asked.

James' eyebrows knit in confusion. "I don't know, Dad and Mum didn't say anything about having visitors today." He went into the hall and made to open the door.

"James!" Remus shouted. He had pulled his wand out of his pocket. "Use your head! Don't just open the door! Use the peephole!"

"Right, good call, Moony," James' hand left the door knob and he peeked through the tiny hole in the door. His laughter made Sirius, Remus, and Peter- who had their wands at the ready- jump. "It's Andromeda Tonks!" James said, unlocking the deadbolt with a wave of his wand, throwing open to door and shouting "Welcome! And you've brought the baby!"

"Andromeda!" Sirius said joyfully and rushed over to embrace his cousin.

"Wotcher, Sirius!" Andromeda exclaimed, hugging Sirius back. She looked over his shoulder at Peter and Remus who were still standing in the family room. "Hi Remus, Hi Peter!" she called to them.

Peter voiced a hello, while Remus turned a light shade of pink and mumbled something that vaguely resembled a greeting.

"Long time no see, cousin," Sirius said as he, James and Andromeda moved into the family room. Andromeda was a tall, pretty young woman with shoulder length brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. On her back she carried a plump baby in an infant carrier.

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly welcome at family functions anymore, you know," She winked at Sirius as she reached above her head, and pulled the baby out of the backpack.

"I'm not either, as you well know," Sirius said, peering down at the rotund baby his cousin was holding up to him. "And who is this?" He touched the baby's nose with his index finger.

"Meet Nymphadora! Isn't she precious!" Andromeda beamed as the baby cooed cheerfully at Sirius.

"Very Precious," Sirius said, smiling. The three other boys voiced similar opinions. "Can I hold her?" Sirius asked.

"Please do!" She plunked the baby into Sirius' arms. "I need to get this thing off my back!" She unbuckled the carrier and slid it off her shoulders.

James helped her lean the carrier against the wall. "We almost weren't going to let you in, you know. Old Remus here thought you could be some boogey monster."

"Or Death Eater, more likely. That was smart of you to be careful, Remus," Remus smiled bashfully and blushed. "You should have thought of that, too, James" Andromeda scolded. "With your parents being aurors- where are your parents anyway?" She looked around the living room as if they might pop out from under the couch.

"Out fighting Voldemort and all that is evil in this world," James replied flippantly.

Andromeda laughed, "I should have guessed. Anyway, your parents being aurors makes them and you more obvious targets for those maniacs. I really shouldn't be traveling outside by myself at night, but I had to see Sirius, and I couldn't use the Floo Network- they say the ash is bad for babies."

"Where's Ted, couldn't he have come too?" James asked.

"How did you know I was here?" Sirius asked at the same time.

"Ted's doing the news cast- he got a job as an anchor for the Muggle nightly news," She pointed to the television where, sure enough, Ted's pleasant face was on the screen reporting the news. "And I knew you were here, Sirius, because Narcissa told me she overheard our mothers discussing how you ran away from home and how Regulus said you were staying with the Potters."

"You still talk to Narcissa?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Andromeda nodded. "She's the only one, besides you of course, who would speak to me after Ted and I got married. We always got along fine with each other, mostly because we both hated Bellatrix so much, the heinous witch that she is, who can blame us- oh, she just married Rodolphus Lestrange a week ago, did you know? Well, anyway, Narcissa was always annoyed at me for being sorted into Ravenclaw, but mostly because she can't form an opinion by herself to save her life and is caught up in our family's Slytherin tradition and self-righteousness.

"Narcissa's in our year, we know about her, she's definitely more beauty than brains," James said.

Again Andromeda nodded, "Yeah, that's Narcissa: a popular beauty queen, but not exactly a deep thinker. Father's forbidden anyone in the family to talk to me, but she does anyway- I think she's lonely because it's impossible to talk to Bellatrix."

"Who'd want to talk to Bellatrix?" Sirius said bitterly.

"She's scary," Peter said quietly. Andromeda laughed.

"You're funny, Peter," she said. Peter blushed. Remus looked vaguely jealous. "Anyway, I'm rambling on here! My point is, something's happened and I needed to see you, Sirius." She pulled a scroll of thick parchment out of her robes and held it out to Sirius. He handed baby Nymphadora over to Remus who was sitting next to him and took the scroll from Andromeda.

"What's this?" Sirius asked, looking confused as he unrolled the scroll.

"Uncle Alphard died, that's his will. He wasn't married, and he had no children, and it so happens that he left you and me equal parts of his entire fortune, Sirius. It's not as big as your father's estate by any means, but seeing as how that will go to Regulus anyway, I'm sure your half will help you out immensely."

Sirius read the will wide-eyed and open-mouthed like he had been stunned by a spell.

"What the heck… It says here that he thought the way our family treated us was atrocious and that we're the only decent Blacks living." He burst into gleeful laughter. "Oh, I bet the whole family is furious!"

"Oh, they are. Even Narcissa didn't want me to see the will- the Black pride doesn't want this getting out, naturally- but I made her give me a copy. If you keep reading you'll see that it says that the gold has been split equally and put into two separate Gringott's vaults under our names. No one can access those vaults but us."

Sirius was still laughing. "Oh, this is rich! I can just _see_ Mother's reaction to reading this! And she thinks that no one is going to tell us and that the gold will just sit there, unused!" He doubled over.

"Way to go, Padfoot, that's really great news," James said happily. Peter nodded his head up and down emphatically.

"Yeah, Sirius, that's great!" Remus exclaimed, bouncing Nymphadora up and down on his knee. She gurgled happily.

"She likes you, Moony!" James said teasingly.

Remus blushed again, and looked down at the baby, who looked up and gave him a wide toothless grin. Suddenly there was a loud shout that startled everyone. Remus was looking at Nymphadora with a look of confusion and horror.

"Oh my God, Remus, what's wrong?" Andromeda cried, gently taking Nymphadora out of his grasp, looking worried. One look at her baby, however, had her in tears with laughter.

Everyone peered at the child. "What the-" Peter whispered, scared and unable to finish his sentence.

Nothing was wrong with Nymphadora, she was wriggling gleefully in her mother's arms. Her face, however, was no longer the face of a baby's, but an exact tiny replica of Remus'.

"Merlin's beard, what did you do to my cousin, Moony?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide.

Andromeda continued laughing. "He didn't do anything! Nymphadora's a metamorphmagus."

"A what?" James exclaimed, still staring at the baby.

"A metamorphmagus. It means she can change her appearance. It's a really rare condition, our pediatric healer couldn't even remember the last time a metamorphmagus has been documented. When she's older Nymphadora will be able to change what she looks like just as easy as you or I change facial expressions, but when they are babies Metamorphmagi haven't gained control of their gift yet. The healer believes that she mimics people's faces like babies mimic sounds they hear their parents speak before they learn to talk- she's learning to utilize her power."

"That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Remus said, breathlessly.

"Don't worry, Remus, she gave Ted and I quite a turn the first time she did it to us, too, believe me. She can usually only hold the face for a few minutes though- see she's already returning back to normal." Nymphadora's face morphed back into her true baby face. "I think it's really cool, myself."

Just then the timer on the oven went off.

"Ah, dinner's ready. You are welcome to stay and eat with us, Andromeda," James said as he rose from his chair. "C'mon, Moony," he poked Remus in the shoulder, "Let's go set the table- you too, Wormtail." They left the two cousins and the baby sitting in the family room.

Sirius couldn't take his eyes off of the will. He kept reading it and re-reading it as if he were afraid that if he stopped looking at it for a second that the writing would disappear.

"Hard to believe isn't it, Sirius? I know Ted and I are very thankful, the past two years have been difficult trying to make it on our own, we had trouble finding work after we eloped right after graduation. Until recently we both had been working as servers in a Muggle restaurant in downtown London."

"Why? Both you and Ted had top marks at Hogwarts! You should have had no problems getting good jobs!" Sirius said, incredulously.

"Oh, sure- we had great marks, but we hit a brick wall when applying to the Ministry, and everywhere else in the Wizard world."

"Why?"

"Lucius Malfoy, I suppose," Andromeda sighed and shifted Nymphadora onto her other knee.

Sirius was puzzled. "Lucius Malfoy? What does he have to do with anything?"

"A lot, Sirius. Didn't you know that he and I were engaged?"

"Whaaaat?" Sirius' mouth hung open. "Why would you have anything to do with that snake?"

"I didn't have any choice in the matter. It was a betrothment, really, his parents made a deal with mine when I was very young. The Malfoys and our family go way back, and they liked the idea of their eldest children marrying and forming a new pureblood Slytherin dynasty." Andromeda told Sirius all of this with disgust on her face. "But they didn't count on me being sorted into Ravenclaw." She chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, I was only seven at the time, but I clearly remember the scandal that caused. Of course, I thought it was great."

"Any _decent_ person would have felt the same way, Sirius, but as you well know our family is anything but decent. Father and Mother were furious- they sent me a howler that very night at Hogwarts after they got my owl telling them the news. I remember it dropping onto my bed in the middle of the night and me running with it into the Common Room to try to avoid waking up my dorm mates. It was awful to begin with, but imagine to my surprise when in it my parents revealed that I was supposed to marry Lucious Malfoy and that I may have just blown my chances at a good match and a good life by refusing Slytherin House."

Sirius snorted.

"I know, typical Black family melodramatics, eh? I decided then and there that I would never marry Lucius, even if it meant running away and living as a Muggle after Hogwarts. Fortunately, I met Ted and the rest is history."

"Yeah, it was an even bigger uproar two years ago when you ran off." Sirius said. "I was still suffering life at Grimmauld Place at the time- you would have thought that Salazaar Slytherin had come back from the dead and proclaimed that he was a Muggleborn." He paused for a second. "But no one ever mentioned you ever being betrothed to Lucius, I just thought you were being defiant."

"Lucius' and my parents never mentioned it to anyone, thankfully. And afterwards, they certainly wouldn't have said a word about it. Lucius is a prideful guy, though, and I'm positive he's used his money and influence to keep Ted and I from finding jobs- even if he is set to marry Narcissa and should be able to forget about the whole ordeal."

Sirius was again incredulous, "Narcissa?"

"Mhmm. You see, my father and Mr. Malfoy betrothed Lucius and I using an old Dark Magic contract called a Blood Pact. They are illegal nowadays, but they were used all of the time among Dark wizards hundreds of years ago. The contract involves incantations, rituals, and is sealed by writing and signing the document with the blood of both parties. Both sides are bound by magic to fulfill their end of the bargain or the defaulter can be killed by the party he defaults against.

"How typically Slytherin," Sirius said, disgusted.

"I know- apparently the Malfoys have the flair for melodramatics like the Blacks." Andromeda shivered, "When I defaulted against the contract, it fell to another woman with my Father's blood to make the situation right. Fortunately there are two other daughters in the family."

"But Bellatrix was heavily involved with Rodolphus Lestrange…" Sirius said, working out the conclusion aloud.

"So that meant Narcissa was left." Andromeda finished for him. "Fortunately, she's been head over heels for Lucius since she was a pre-teen- so it was a perfect solution: the Blood Pact was fulfilled, Lucius get's his trophy Black bride when Narcissa graduates in two years, and I get to keep my life. Although I'd bet Uncle Alphard's fortune that no one in the family gives a rat's tail about that last point."

"Yeah, I'm sure the Blacks wouldn't mind seeing both of us kick the bucket," Sirius grinned as if this was an esteemed honor to be proud of. He tilted his head as if something had just come to his mind. "So, uh, does Narcissa know about the Blood Pact?"

"No. I didn't either, to be honest, until after Ted and I had married. Mother sent me a letter telling me all about the Pact- probably to try to scare me into coming back home and marrying Lucius. But by that time the Malfoys had had enough and wanted to end the matter- so Narcissa was told the happy news- happy on her end, anyway. I'm glad I didn't know, though," she shivered again, "I'm not so sure I could have handed that kind of liability over to my sister, even as head over heels in love with Ted that I was."

"It's just Narcissa!" Sirius scoffed.

"She's still my sister, Sirius," Andromeda said seriously. "I know she's a bitchy Slytherin diva now, but all those years when we were kids it was her and me against Bellatrix, well mostly me protecting her against Bellatrix, and we used to be as close as it was possible for two Black sisters to be. What if for some reason she refused Lucius like I had and the Malfoy's tried to kill _her_ instead of me? If I had known about the Blood Pact before I ran off, I'm… I'm…" her voice faltered. "I'm not sure what choice I would have made." She looked off sadly into space while baby Nymphadora continued to wiggle happily in her grasp, blissfully unaware of the emotional turmoil her mother was experiencing.

Sirius stood up and placed a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Sounds like a situation a brave Gryffindor could shine in, what with making those tough life altering decisions and all," He tried to sound light and funny, "Are you sure you really were sorted into the right house?" He winked at her, then turned earnest, "Don't worry a second more about it, everything happens for a reason, right?"

Andromeda shook herself out of her troubled reverie and looked up at Sirius. She smiled at his handsome face. "You're right. Everything happens for a reason."

James poked his head out from behind the kitchen door. "Are you two ever going to join us? Peter's going to eat your helpings if you don't get in here quick!"

"I am not!" Peter shouted indignantly from the kitchen table.

"Come on, coz," Sirius said, taking Nymphadora out of her mother's arms and heading towards the kitchen. "Let's get some dinner."

Andromeda followed Sirius through the swinging door. "Sounds great." She got a whiff of the roast chicken. "Mmm, smells great, too!"

James had set the table with one extra place for Andromeda and had even conjured up a highchair for the baby to sit in.

"Allow me!" He took Nymphadora from Sirius and put her carefully in the highchair, then buckled her in.

Andromeda sat down while Remus prepared her a plate full of chicken, carrots, potatoes, and rolls. "Wow, James, you seem to have such a knack with babies. Thank you, Remus," she took the filled plate from his hands and placed it in front of her.

"I love babies," James said simply, sitting down and helping himself to the food on his plate.

Sirius shook his head, "You're never even around babies, you idiot."

"I have too been around babies!" James said stubbornly, "I have some younger cousins."

"You have two younger cousins, James, but they're ten and nine years old." Remus said, smiling.

James opened his mouth, then shut it quickly. Just as quickly he opened it again, "Yeah, and when they were babies I remember liking them!" He chomped down on a large forkful of chicken as if to say that that was that.

"James Potter, the family man," Peter said, amused, his small dark eyes twinkling.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Families are a wonderful thing." Andromeda said, making a baby bottle materialize out of the end of her wand. She placed the bottle in Nymphadora's hands and the baby began to feed.

"Unless you are a Black," Sirius said mischievously.

"We never really ever have been true Blacks at heart," Andromeda said, looking fondly at her baby.

"Too bad you couldn't have been Potters- I wouldn't have minded a sister and a brother." James said.

"Yeah, that's all we need- more Potters running around this planet causing trouble and reeking havoc in Gryffindor Tower!"

"Hey, shut up, Prefect Moony!" James threw a roll across the table at Remus. "Just you wait, there will be plenty of Potters someday. I bet you'll even be a Professor at Hogwarts and get to teach them!"

Remus pretended to look horrified, "Oh, please no! Anything but that! I'll quit if I have to teach Trouble and Double Trouble Potter!"

"Or Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum Potter!" Peter said laughing, as he ducked a roll from James as well.

"Dumb and Dumber Potter!"

"Thing One and Thing Two Potter!"

"I doubt Lily will agree to naming her children such ridiculous names," James sniffed.

The table exploded with laughter. Sirius leaned far back in his chair, tears coming out of his eyes, Remus cackled with his mouth full until he nearly choked on a piece of potato, and butterbeer shot out of Peter's nostrils. Andromeda looked on with amused wonder, and Nymphadora showed her toothless grin and shook her arms up and down, bouncing in her highchair.

"Would you please, leave the Lily issue alone! The poor girl's ears are probably burning with all the time you've been talking about her!" Remus said, making a funny noise that was something between a cough and a laugh. Peter smacked him on the back repeatedly.

"Yeah, Lily marrying James, that's the most unlikely pair I've ever heard of!" Peter chimed in. "Right Sirius?"

Sirus leaned forward, the front two rungs of his chair connecting with the floor again, and folded his arms. "Let old Prongs dream; I think it's funny."

"Wonderful, it's great to know my pals are cheering for me. Really brilliant." James said, pretending to look despondent. "Won't you all be eating your words some day."

"Yeah, sure, James."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"The important thing is he never loses his confidence."

"Do I know this Lily?" Andromeda asked.

"Lily Evans."

"She's a Gryffindor."

"In our year."

"The name rings a bell, who are her parents?" Andromeda asked.

"No one you'd know, she's a Muggleborn."

"Ah, that's the best kind of wizard." Andromeda winked at them and continued eating.

"Oiy! That's nice!"

"Are you trying to hurt our feelings?"

"Lovely thing to say at a table full of Purebloods!"

"Don't forget one Half-Blood."

"Yes, of course, how could we forget Moody the Half-Blood."

"Sorry boys, just joking, you know I love you. Could you please pass me the rolls?"

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Remus, you're a prince."

"What's for dessert?"

"Finish your dinner first, Wormtail."

"Ha ha ha, ok, sure, Mummy."

"Uh, I dunno, I think I have a stash of leftovers from the Hogwarts' Express trolley in the cupboard."

"What a host- he offers us stale Cauldron Cakes and hard Bertie Bott's Everflavor Beans!"

"Only the best for my mates."

"Mates? What mates? Your parents pay us to hang out with you."

"Funny, really funny, Padfoot."

A/N: Did you get the pun? Sorry, I couldn't help myself! I'm not trying to hint who I think the HBP is or anything, just being cheeky! Anyone like Andromeda's story? I have a whole separate fanfic idea pertaining to that little plotline planned out, so be on the lookout! Is it too uncharacteristic for a sixteen year old boy to be pondering about his future children? I wouldn't know because I never was a sixteen year old boy! I just liked the idea of James being so sweet on Lily that he was convinced without a doubt that they'd be married someday.

This is all I have on my mind for now with this story, but I'm sure something else will come to me because I really like writing these guys!


	4. Remus, a Family Ghoul, and Two Leprechau...

A big thank you to everyone who left reviews for the last three chapters! Enjoy!

**A week or so after the boys ate dinner with Andromeda, the Mauraders once again have congregated at the Potters for a day of fun and mischief. James convinces Remus to "prank Floo" Lily, with some hilarious results… and a result that is somewhat surprising!**

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Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and no, I'm not making any money from this!

"No way, Prongs."

"Pllleeeeaaase, Moony?"

"_NO_, James, I won't do it!"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

"Ah, suuuure, _soooo_ much fun for me to Floo Lily under the pretense of "discussing prefect things" so you can spy on her..."

"It's not spying! It will just be a simple conversation between two friends."

"That you get to watch without Lily knowing!"

"So, yeah, even by Marauder standards it's spying."

"Padfoot, Wormtail, I did NOT ask your opinions."

"This is ridiculous; I refuse to act like a fool for you. Besides, we don't even know if her house is connected to the Floo Network!"

James pulled out a thick leather bound book from his night stand and held it up. "Floo Network Directory. I already checked it out," He flipped the book open and turned over the pages, stopping at the E's. He pointed triumphantly at an entry that had been circled in ink. "'Evans, Lily. 151 Perkins Lane. Connection established 1972.' She must have had it installed the first summer back from Hogwarts."

Remus had an odd expression on his face that was something between disappointment and annoyance. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Back me up here, Sirius!"

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno, mate, summer's starting to get boring- we could do with a bit of fun don't you think?"

Remus looked back and forth between the two black haired boys. James looked at him, grinning wide, while Sirius merely leaned back on James' bed and put his hands up behind his head.

"Moony, I'm warning you… if you don't Floo her for me I'll put the Leg Locker curse on you for the rest of the summer!" He pulled his wand out of his back jeans pocket.

"Not if I put the Bat Bogey hex on you first!" Remus cried, whipping his own wand out.

The two friends eyed each other warily, neither totally willing to put a spell on the other.

Remus pulled back his wand. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll do it…"

"YAHOO!" James shouted, interrupting him.

"But _only_ because it will prove once and for all that you don't hold anything that closely resembles her favor," Remus concluded his sentence forcefully.

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic, Moony!" James grabbed him around the shoulders with one arm and gave him a shake. "C'mon! Let's go downstairs and Floo her now!"

James grabbed his invisibility cloak off of a peg on the back of his bedroom door and pulled Remus downstairs to the Potter's family room, closely followed by Sirius and Peter. He draped the cloak over his shoulders after positioning Remus in front of the fireplace, thenmotioned for the other two boys to hide behind the couch.

"This is going to be a disaster; you know this, right, James?" Remus sighed as he knelt down to stick his head in the fireplace.

"Naw, it'll be great!" James thrust a jar containing the Potter's supply of Floo Powder at Remus. "Go on! Take some powder! Remember, it's 151 Perkins Lane."

"Sounds like he's memorized it," Peter snickered behind the couch.

"No comments from the peanut gallery!" Remus barked over his shoulder, he threw a meaningful look in the direction of the Floo Powder pot floating in midair. "That goes for you, too, Prongs! And put that jar down!"

The jar returned to its usual place on the mantle.

"Ok, everyone be quiet!" Remus reminded them one last time. He threw a handful of the powder into the fireplace and shouted, "151 Perkins Lane!"

A great non burning green flame engulfed Remus. He peered uncertainly into the scene that lay before his eyes. A tall girl was sitting on a bed directly opposite the fireplace. Her face was hidden by the cover of a very large book

"Lily?" Remus asked tentatively.

The girl looked up from her book. It was not Lily, but a girl with blonde hair and a long bony face. She took one look at Remus' head in the fireplace and screamed- throwing her book in the air and tearing from the room.

James could hear the scream, but was unable to see what Remus could. Sirius and Peter poked their heads up from behind the couch in curiosity.

"What's wrong!" James hissed.

"I think it was her sister… you know the Muggle one?" Remus said.

"Rotten luck!" Sirius laughed.

"See, James, I told you that this was a bad idea!" Remus made to stand up out of the fire, then paused. "Wait, I hear footsteps, someone's coming!"

Remus heard two sets of footsteps in the hallway outside of the room and a girl's voice speaking rapidly and hysterically.

"A FACE the fireplace, Lily! I was just reading on the bed and it appeared- just like that! I thought you weren't supposed to do magic outside of school! I'll tell Mum! It's just not decent to have these things happen in our house! AIIEEEEE- it's still there!"

The bony faced girl reappeared in Remus' line of sight, looking petrified and pointing at his floating head.

"Shush, Petunia! Get a grip!" Lily joined her sister's side and peered into the fireplace. Her face broke out into a smile. "Remus! How are you?" She turned to her sister. "It's ok, Petunia, he's a friend from school."

"Hi Lily," he responded, his eyes nervously on Petunia, who was slowly backing away from the fireplace, wringing her hands.

"He shouldn't be here!" Petunia said accusingly.

"Petunia, it's how wizards communicate, they don't have telephones," She pushed her sister gently towards the door. "Now just go and leave me alone if you are going to be discourteous."

Petunia let herself be pushed out into the hallway then turned around. "Oh and it's not discourteous for you freaks to go popping yourselves in and out of fireplaces, scaring _normal_ people out of their minds?" Petunia said shrilly. Lily rolled her eyes and shut the door in her sister's face.

"Sorry, about that, Remus," Lily apologized, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "My sister doesn't like magic- it freaks her out."

"It's ok. I guess it would be disconcerting to see a head in your fireplace if you weren't used to it."

"Yeah, still, she doesn't have to be rude about it." Lily crossed her legs Indian style and leaned forward, her hands supporting her head and her elbows on her knees. "So, what's up?"

Remus just said what first popped into his head. "Er, well, nothing really, just enjoying the summer holiday. Kinda wanted to talk to you about…" he trailed off, suddenly losing his nerve and forgetting what he was planning on saying to her.

"Prefect things!" James whispered behind him.

"PREFECT THINGS! Yeah, that's it!" Remus said abruptly, and little too loudly.

Lily tilted her head and looked confused. "Prefect things?"

"Uh, yeah, prefect things… so, uh, who do you think will be the new Fifth Year Prefects this year?"

"Hadn't really thought about it, to be honest." She responded, still looking bewildered.

"Oh, well, er, yeah, me neither. Ah, so I was thinking maybe we could come up with some new disciplinary tactics…"

"Disciplinary tactics?" Lily interrupted, her confusion deepening.

Remus' face grew hot and he became more nervous. "Well, erm, yeah. I mean, new and more effective ways of keeping discipline and order in the common room and hallways…" He knew he sounded lame, but hoped maybe Lily did not notice.

Lily lifted an eyebrow and smirked slightly. "Ah, so you've finally come around to my idea of chaining James Potter and Sirius Black to their beds and letting them out only on supervised visits to their classes, eh?"

"OY! Not nice!" James shouted suddenly from under his invisibility cloak. Lily heard James' voice and saw Remus' look quickly to his right.

"What was that!" Lily asked standing up and walking right up to the fireplace. She bent down and tried to peer through the green flames.

"SHHH, you git!" Remus hissed in James direction. He turned back to Lily and tried to laugh. "Oh, it's nothing- just the… aaah… GHOUL! Yeah, that's right, just the family ghoul!"

"The family ghoul?" Lily asked, her auburn eyebrows crinkling and a look of incredulousness growing on her face.

"Oh yeah, the family ghoul, Bingo- he's a bit of a rascal and makes noise at the most inopportune times, sorry about that- he didn't scare you did he?"

"Quit talking about ghouls and talk about _her_, you prat!" James hissed, not so quietly.

"Who _is_ that!" Lily asked forcefully.

"Bingo, you little dickens, quit trying to scare my friend Lily!" Remus shouted, trying to sound convincing, over his shoulder. Noises sounding suspiciously like unsuccessfully stifled laughter were coming from the direction of the Potter's couch and echoed through the green fire and into the bedroom where Lily was standing.

"What's that, the family leprechaun?" Lily said sarcastically.

Remus decided it was time to bail ship.

"Well, Lily, it was great talking to you! See you in September!" he said and quickly disappeared from the fireplace.

He backed out of the green fire, stood up in the Potter's family room and turned around.

"Way to go, Moony! You blew it!" James said accusingly, tearing off his invisibility cloak.

"ME? It was going fine until you started shouting!" Remus shot back.

"I wasn't shouting!" James yelled.

"Yes you were! You were making too much noise! She heard you!"

"The only thing she heard was you gibbering like an idiot!"

"I told you this wouldn't work, next time you want to prank Floo Lily leave me out of it! Better yet, why don't you work up the nerve to actually Floo her _yourself_!"

"He shouldn't bother, I won't answer back." A voice said from the fireplace.

James and Remus turned from shouting at each other and looked in the direction of the voice. Lily was picking herself up from the brick floor of the fireplace and dusting herself off. When she was standing upright the boys saw that her face was deep red to match her hair, and she looked furious.

James tried to put on a winning face. "Lily! How good to see you! What a pleasant supri-"

"Shut up, Potter!" Lily said, her voice full of anger.

"Lily… h-h-how did you get here?" Remus said rather pathetically.

"It's a simple spell- _Returnus_- it allows you to go to the fireplace that Flooed you last if you don't know the address. I'm surprised you don't know it." She looked back and forth between the two boys. "Well, well, we have Remus and his "family ghoul" standing here in front of me. And where there's a Remus and his ghoul there's usually two "leprechauns" as well…"

Lily looked around the room and her eyes fell upon the couch. Stepping around James, Remus and the coffee table she peered over the top of the couch to see Peter and Sirius still crouched behind it.

Peter smiled sheepishly. "Hi Lily!"

Lily sighed. "Hello, Peter." Sirius and Peter rose and came out from behind the couch.

"Who wants to tell me what is going on here?" Lily demanded, her hands on her hips.

Four voices started speaking at the same time.

"Well you see…"

"Err…"

"Before you get mad again…"

"We just wanted to say hi…"

Lily sighed again. "Enough," The four boys stopped talking. She turned to Remus.

"I'm really surprised at you, Remus. Prank Flooing? That kind of thing is funny when you're thirteen- not when you are an almost of age wizard."

"Well it was more like Floo spying- we weren't trying to prank you or anything- just spy on you," Peter piped up.

Sirius poked him. "_Wormtail_, shhh!"

Lily shook her head. "That's not any better! Seriously, Remus, I'd expect something stupid and immature like this out of Potter and Black, but not you."

"Hey! That's a little harsh, Evans!" James said, looking a little hurt.

Lily's green eyes focused on James. "Not really, Potter. If you wanted to talk to me you should have just Flooed yourself instead of making your mate do it for you… granted I probably wouldn't have wanted to talk to you anyway, but still…"

"Oh, come on, Evans! I'm a nice guy!" James exclaimed.

Lily snorted. "Oh, yeah, nice guy, sure. I've seen you and Sirius here always showboating around thinking you guys own the school, hexing whomever you want and teasing innocent bystanders."

"If you're talking about Snivelus as an innocent bystander you've got your wires crossed, Lily," Sirius jumped to his and James' defense.

Eager to avoid a confrontation about Severus Snape that would result in more shouting, and possibly a spell fight that might cause injuries, Remus interrupted.

"Okay, okay, enough about all that. Lily, I'm really sorry."

Lily smiled at him and removed her hands from her hips. "It's ok, Remus. I'm sorry I got so angry. Next time, just Floo when you want to chat- not because Potter talks you into it."

"Okay," Remus responded, grinning. He looked at James who was eyeing Lily hopefully, most likely wishing she would apologize to him as well. Remus suddenly had an idea.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Lily looked surprised and for a moment it seemed like she might decline. But just as she was about to say no she had a change of heart.

"Sure, let me send an owl to my parents- but I don't think they will mind."

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A/N: What do you know, I had another Maurader chapter in me after all! Well, now that I've written this one, I'll have to write at least another about how the dinner goes, what do you say? 


	5. A Fifth Marauder?

Thanks so much to all of the reviewers, I really appreciate it! Sorry it has taken so long to make a new chapter, I had a bad case of writer's block and it took me three tries to get the ball rolling. You can credit zippyfox, a.k.a. Lisa, for making me get my act in shape- after reading her last review I felt bad and hunkered down to finish the chapter! Enjoy!

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**Lily does indeed stay for dinner, James and Remus have a little chat, we actually get to see more of Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and by the end of the night I daresay that the Marauders just might have made a new friend!**

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters… if I did I would be J.K. Rowling, which I am not. And if I was making any money from this, do you think I'd be sitting here in front of my computer instead of taking the first flight to Italy?

As soon as Lily accepted Remus' offer to stay for dinner James went silent. He did not know if he should feel surprised, ecstatic, nervous, or scared. Truth be told, he felt all of those things at once, the emotions were bubbling around in the pit of his stomach as if he were a giant blender, and he was not sure he could open his mouth to say anything without the churning mass that was the contents of his stomach making an appearance. In lieu of speaking, he continued to stand next to Remus and looked at Lily with increasingly widening eyes and a strange expression on his face that was something between a joyful smile and a grimace of uncertainty.

"Well it's great that you've decided to stay, Lily, isn't it guys?" Remus said. Peter and Sirius voiced a yes, but James only managed to nod. Since it was obvious that James was not going to be able to snap out of his trance to play the part of host, Remus took the initiative and motioned for everyone to sit down.

"Well, er, thanks for having me," Lily responded, placing herself in a loveseat near the couch where Sirius, Peter and Remus had taken seats. James sat down in a high wingback chair opposite Lily.

For an awkward minute Lily stared at the boys, while they stared back at her. The boys were not used to having a fifth person in their presence- much less a girl; and Lily was not used to hanging around boys- much less the mischievous Marauders. Remus shot a pointed glance at James, trying to get him to say something to break the ice, but James just looked back at him, biting his lip and slightly shrugging his shoulders.

James was determined to make a good impression and be on his best behavior. Unfortunately, being on his best behavior meant that there wasn't much he could actually say- most of the four boys' time was spent talking about three things: James' crush on Lily, how much they hated Severus Snape, and Quidditch, and James knew Lily definitely would not want to talk about the first two subjects- he was not sure about the last one, but didn't want to make a mistake.

Coincidentally, Remus was thinking the exact same thing, only he knew for certain that Lily would not mind talking about Quidditch.

"Did you catch the Wimbourne Wasps v. Appleby Arrows match on the Wizarding Wireless last night?" Remus asked.

Lily's eyes lit up. "Yeah! It was great wasn't it? Can you believe it took four hours to capture the Snitch?

Sirius, Peter, and James sat up straighter with the excitement of realizing that Lily was a fellow Quidditch fan. Everyone started talking animatedly about the match, everyone except James, who only contributed short sentences here and there.

Frustrated with his usually animated and boisterous friend, Remus interrupted the conversation. "Hey, who wants something to drink?"

Lily, Sirius and Peter all said, "I do!"

"I'll go get some butterbeers, James, why don't you come help?" Remus tugged on James's shirt sleeve and motioned him to follow.

Once the kitchen door swung closed behind them Remus turned to James. "What is the matter with you? You're choking out there!" he hissed in a quiet whisper.

"What do you mean!" James hissed back.

"What do I mean? I mean that I asked Lily to stay for dinner thinking this could be your big chance to make a good impression on her and you're sitting out there like a sack of potatoes, not saying anything to her! What gives?"

"I don't know! Actually having a conversation with her is more difficult than talking about her with you guys! Her being here is making me all nervous and I'm afraid of saying something that will make her mad!" James responded, still whispering, and looking pathetically at the kitchen door.

Remus turned away from his friend, crossed the kitchen, and opened the door to the refrigerator. He ducked his head inside to look for butterbeers- and to hide the smile that was forming on his face. It was very rare that James Potter ever show any hint of uncertainty. Remus chuckled silently to himself.

"Just relax, mate." He pulled a six pack of butterbears from the bottom shelf and stood back up, closing the refrigerator door. "Lily's a nice girl- she just hasn't always seen your best side- that's why she gets so, ah, upset every time you interact. I know it's hard for you to understand, but girls like her don't think your kind of showing off is very mature."

"What are you talking about, I _never_ show off!" James indignantly defended himself.

Remus gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Ok, ok, I get a little carried away sometimes, but so what! Loads of other girls think I'm funny!"

"I just told you, Prongs, but maybe I'll be more specific so you can fully understand: Lily's super smart and very mature for her age- that means she's going to act older…"

"I _know_ what mature means, Moony!"

"Alright, alright, sorry, in any case, she's just not impressed with your crazy antics. She'd rather have someone who's not full of himself and causes less trouble."

James frowned in disappointment, "Sounds like she'd go for someone more like you, Moony."

Remus shook his head. "No, how many times do I have to tell you? We're just friends- barely more than friendly acquaintances really." He paused, looked at James, then began speaking again. "Look, I wasn't going to tell you this, because Lily wouldn't have told me if she thought I was going to run off and tell you, but I wasn't lying at King's Cross about her saying she thought you were cute."

James face came to life, but then was suddenly subdued. "But you also said that she thought I was a conceited jerk who needed a kick in the pants!"

"Uh, yeah, which she said _every single day_! She talked about you all the time, James- complained how you were smart and pretty cute, but you needed your ego deflated. If she wasn't interested in you even just a little bit, I don't see why she'd bring you up all the time."

"Ah, but you just said upstairs that Flooing her would show that I don't hold anything that closely resembles her favor."

"You don't really. I'm not saying she's ready to go on a date with you or anything; you'd annoy the Hades out of her. But try to be a little more mature and nice to your fellow students and her slight interest might grow."

"You think so?" James was grinning ear to ear now.

"Yes, I do."

"HA HA!" James shouted triumphantly, throwing his arms high in the air.

"HEY! You guys ever going to bring us something to drink!" Sirius shouted from the family room. "We're dying of thirst in here!"

"We're coming! We're coming!" James grabbed the butterbeer from Remus' hand. "Keep your shirt on, you mangy mutt!" He made to go through the swinging door.

Remus poked him in the back. "Be nice!"

James shrugged, "I was being funny! I'm sure Lily knows the difference!"

Remus shook his head. "Oh, Prongs, it'll be a miracle if you ever get Lily to go out with you."

"One miracle, coming right up!" With that, James went through the door. "Butterbeer!" he exclaimed to everyone in the family room.

"Finally!" Sirius grabbed the cans from James' hand and passed them out. "Cheers!" he raised his bottle up slightly as he twisted the bottle cap to open it. The four other teenagers did the same.

At the same time, each bottle cap popped off with a bang and creamy foam exploded all over everyone.

"Arrrrgh!"

"What the-"

"Goodness!"

"James did you shake the bottles or something?"

"I didn't mean to!" James said exasperatedly. He looked warily over at Lily, thinking she was going to be angry and that he would get an earful.

Instead Lily was laughing.

"Hahahahaha! Look at us, we're soaked!" She pulled her wand out of her pocket and waved it around the room. "Arridus!" Everyone's clothes were immediately dry again.

"Thanks," James said sheepishly.

"No problem, Potter," Lily answered, taking a sip from her bottle. "Sirius and Peter were giving me an exciting rendition of your recent backyard Quidditch adventures, I think they should continue."

"What? Oh, it was nothing… guys, Lily doesn't want to hear about that," James waved his hand and tried to seem modest. After Remus and his talk in the kitchen, the last thing he wanted to do was brag and show off.

"Yeah we were telling her about last week!" Peter exclaimed. He turned to Lily and started speaking animatedly. "He caught the snitch from what would have had to have been a fifty meter dive! It was hovering right by my shoulder and I couldn't grab hold of it, but James came zooming in from above and just plucked it right out of mid-air. Just snatched it, just like THAT!" He made a quick grabbing motion in the air with his hand. "I've never seen anything like it!"

James cringed and looked away, but to his surprise Lily was impressed.

"Wow, Potter, seems to me that you are wasting your talent just playing Chaser."

James shrugged. "Nah, that catch was total luck. Frank Longbottom is a much more methodical and careful Seeker. He can ride fast, but only takes huge risks when absolutely necessary. He's better at spotting the Snitch than me, too. It's a shame this is his last year."

Lily looked at James curiously. Was he actually admitting that someone else was better at something than he?

Suddenly, and with two large cracks, Mr. and Mrs. Potter appeared in the foyer.

"We're home, James!" Mrs. Potter called to the house while she and her husband stowed their briefcases in the cupboard underneath the stairs. "And we've brought Chinese take- out for dinner!"

"I'm in here, Mum!" James called to her from the family room.

Mrs. Potter turned around from looking up the staircase to enter the family room, followed closely by her husband, who was holding a huge plastic bag.

"Well, hello boys, James and Sirius didn't mention that you'd be here tonight…" Mrs. Potter started.

"Oh, sorry, Mrs. Potter, we just came over for the day…" Remus interrupted her.

Mr. Potter waved his hand, "Oh, no, don't worry about it, you're welcome anytime, you know that!" He noticed Lily, still sitting in the loveseat, for the first time. "Well, hello! You're new! And who might you be?"

Lily stood up. "Lily Evans, sir." She extended her right hand.

"Hello Lily, I'm Harold- Harry- Potter, and this is my wife Elizabeth," Mr. Potter said shaking Lily's outstretched hand.

"Lily, is it?" Mrs. Potter said with interest, throwing a meaningful glance at her son as she shook Lily's hand as well.

"Yes, ma'aam."

"Lily is a, ah, friend from Hogwarts," James said, he spoke the word "friend" tentatively, with a nervous look at both his mother and Lily.

"How nice!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed. "Won't you please stay for dinner with us, Lily?"

"We've already asked her to, Mum."

"Splendid! Well let's get the table set so we can eat! Your mother and I are hungry!" Mr. Potter said jovially. "I'm glad we opted for Mr. Ming's Extra-Extra Large Dinner Platter! I hope you like General Tso's Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, crab rangoons, and egg rolls Lily!"

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I do," Lily said as everyone went into the kitchen.

The boys immediately began to set the table, while Mrs. Potter poured water into goblets for everyone, and Mr. Potter pulled Chinese food containers out of the plastic bag and placed them on the table.

"I didn't know that wizards ate take-out Chinese food, we never have anything like it at Hogwarts," Lily observed as she was passed a heaping plate full of General Tso's chicken.

James' parents looked confused for a second until James clarified. "Lily's a Muggleborn."

Mr. Potter chuckled. "I guess wizards don't usually, but a man I know from work at the Ministry of Magic, introduced me to it. Arthur Weasley, that's his name. Great guy- the most energetic and enthusiastic young man I've ever met. He single handedly reorganized the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts division at the Ministry a couple years ago when he joined the Ministry- has a bit of an obsession with all things Muggle you could say. Anyway, when he has the time, Arthur goes to all sorts of Muggle restaurants to try the food. Chinese is his favorite, so a while ago he persuaded me to try it and we've been hooked on it ever since!"

"Anyone want some?" James asked the table, holding up a plate stacked high with eggrolls.

"Yum!" Sirius grabbed two, and bit into one eagerly. "My mom would have a fit if she knew I was eating Muggle food!" He chewed hard as if this thought was extremely relishing.

"So what do your parents do for a living, Lily?" Mrs. Potter asked. To her right was Peter, struggling to eat with his chopsticks. She placed hers down and began to show him how to hold them correctly.

Lily looked a little taken aback when six pairs of eyes turned her way, but she answered nonetheless . "Well, like James said, my parents are Muggles. My dad is an accountant and my mum stayed home with my sister Petunia and I when we were little, but now that we're both in our teens she helps my dad run his office."

"Does your sister go to Hogwarts as well?" Mr. Potter asked.

"No, sir, she's a Muggle like my parents. Petunia goes to a girls' prep school in Surrey- that's where we live."

"You're the only witch in your family?"

"Yes, as far as we know."

"How extraordinary, you're parents must be very proud of you!"

"They are," Lily said, blushing, "They were really excited when my Hogwarts' letter arrived, they had always thought there was something special about me, but they just didn't know what."

"It's too bad that your sister isn't a witch as well. Often with Muggleborns their siblings are magic too. It all has something to do with genes- it's very complicated, I don't really understand it, but I know they are studying it at the Ministry." Mrs. Potter said.

Lily laughed. "Petunia hates magic, I don't think she'd like being a witch." She paused. "But, actually, I think deep down inside, she's just jealous of me."

"Ah, that can happen," Mr. Potter said sympathetically. "That's too bad."

"So, Lily, how do you have the unlucky fortune of knowing my son and his rambunctious friends?" Mrs. Potter asked with a smile.

Lily finished chewing a crab Rangoon. "Well, Remus and I have been study buddies in the library for years." James threw a very jealous and very obvious glance Remus' way. "And this year we were Fifth Year Prefects together."

"You're a prefect, congratultions!" Mr. Potter said heartily while spooning more food onto his plate. "We were hoping James here would be a prefect, but if it wasn't him, then I'm glad it was Remus."

"Pshh, Harry, don't fool yourself! James gets into far too much trouble to be a prefect! Lily, you wouldn't _believe_ the amount of owls we get about his little adventures at Hogwarts." She gave James a stern look.

"Oh, I can believe it, Mrs. Potter," Lily said.

"It's all my fault, Mrs. Potter!" Sirius spoke up. "Most of the time he's just following my lead!"

Mr. Potter laughed a bellowing laugh. "Sirius Black! Do you think we'd believe that for one second! James is just as guilty as you are!"

Everyone at the table laughed, including Lily.

"Just remember, boys, Mr. Potter and I don't care about a few owls here and there as long as you are studying and getting marks at the end of the year- and if you aren't hurting or humiliating anyone. I don't want to have any more owls about that."

James looked guiltily at Lily, who looked back with an "I told you so" face. He knew they were both thinking of a certain event just about a month previous during OWL exam week involving a certain despised Slytherin. He wished that somehow he could make her understand why he and the guys despised Snape.

"Even if it is Severus Snape?" James asked his parents.

Mr. Potters face grew dark and he squinted his eyes. Mrs. Potter set her jaw firmly and began tapping one of her chopsticks firmly on the table.

"Listen carefully to me boys." Mr. Potter began, sounding stern. "Mrs. Potter and I have spent most of our adult lives fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters as aurors. We've seen the devastation and ruin that they cause, and, James, we've always been honest with you about it all so you'd know just how Dark and evil Voldemort is willing to go. Now you boys know that the Snape family is the most ancient and wealthiest family in the Wizarding World, and also the family most heavily steeped in the Dark Arts. We believe that it was most likely Severus Snape's father, Sanguis, who mentored Voldemort and both financed and aided his uprising. I usually don't like to generalize, but that whole family is as Dark as is wizardly possible and I doubt Sanguis' son is any less Dark than Sanguis himself. Honestly, I don't care what squirmishes come between you all and Severus, because I'm sure if you didn't do it to him first, he'd do it to you- and I know you are capable wizards and hold your own better than most boys your age. All I ask is that you boys know what you are getting into and that you keep in mind who Severus' father is and the consequences of picking on his only son. Do you understand?"

All four boys voiced that they did. Lilly however, was pushing a piece of chicken around on her plate, looking pensive and worried. Mr. Potter saw her troubled face and quickly tried to change the subject.

"I'm sorry, we should talk about happier things at dinner while we have the honor of having James' friends with us!"

At that moment, there was a popping sound from across the kitchen from the tiny fireplace next to the stove. A man's head with graying brown hair appeared.

Peter and Mr. Potter spoke at the same time.

"Dad!"

"Simon! How are you! There isn't trouble at work is there?" Mr. Potter sounded slightly anxious and Mrs. Potter had sat up, her back rigid and her face alert.

"No, no, Harry," The two adult Potters relaxed slightly. "It's actually my night off. Mrs Pettigrew and I were just wondering when we could expect Peter home."

"Kept him too late, I suppose, Simon," Mrs. Potter smiled. "Terribly sorry."

Mr. Pettigrew laughed, "No, he can stay as long as he likes, it's just you know how my wife gets."

"I'll be home after we finish supper, Dad," Peter said.

"Ok, son, sounds good to me! See you soon!" Mr. Pettigrew disappeared with a pop.

Soon after that, the Potters and their guests finished their meal and were sitting lazily still and stuffed in their chairs.

Peter stood up first. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I think I'll go home now before my mom starts to worry too much."

"Oh won't you stay for some chocolate cake, Peter?" Mrs. Potter asked. "I was going to whip one up really quick while we all digest."

Peter looked tempted, but declined. "No, but thank you, it's like my dad said- you know how my mom gets!"

"There's nothing wrong with a protective mother, Peter." Mrs. Potter said. "She just loves you very much."

Peter grinned. "I know,"

"We'll walk you out, Wormtail," Sirius said. With that, the boys went into the family room where Peter would Floo home.

Lily began to stack up dishes and went to take them over to the sink.

"Oh, no, Lily, you don't have to do that, I've got it," Mr. Potter said, taking the dishes from her hand. "Guests don't do dishes in our house." He placed the dishes in the sink and waved his wand over them. Instantly the brush started to scrub the dishes clean.

Lily sat back down in her chair and looked around her. For the first time, she noticed that the Potter's house was very old- very old, but also very ornate and pretty.

"I really love your house- I've always loved old homes. When was this house built?"

"Why, thank you, Lily. I believe it was built in the 1600s, actually. It's been in my family for centuries," Mr. Potter said.

Lily was shocked. "The 1600s? I didn't expect it to be that old!"

"Houses built with magic last forever, as long as the House Holding charms are renewed every year," Mrs. Potter explained, pulling a Mrs. Marcy's Easy Make chocolate cake kit from a cupboard.

"Well, Peter's gone home now," James said, pushing through the kitchen door, followed by Sirius and Remus.

"The cake should be ready in about a half hour," Mrs. Potter said as she watched a big, floating bowl pour cake batter into a pan. "James, why don't you show Lily the house while we're waiting?"

"She might be interested in the library, if she's anything like her fellow prefect Remus," Mr. Potter said, pouring himself a glass of brandy.

"Sure, ok," James said. "C'mon, Lily, you too, guys." He motioned for everyone to follow him.

"We've seen your house plenty of times," Remus said, smiling.

"Uh, yeah- duh, Prongs. And I live here too, you know." Sirius crossed his arms and glanced sideways at Remus, smiling as well.

"Fine, stay in the kitchen with my boring parents," James said, looking his friends in the eye, knowing what they were trying to do.

"We heard that, young man," Mrs. Potter laughed.

"Fine, we will." Sirius said. "Stay in the kitchen, that is." He grinned at James.

"Mkay, well, follow me, Lily," James sighed, becoming a little nervous.

Lily, who was too absorbed in watching the Easy Make cake kit make itself to hear the conversation around her, looked curiously at James.

"Follow you where?" she asked.

"To our library, my dad thinks you might want to see it."

"Oh, ok, sure."

Lily followed James out of the kitchen and into the hallway that lead to the front door. As they went up the stairs, she could see the Potters, Sirius, and Remus settle into the family room to watch Muggle television. When they reached the top of the stairs, James waved his wand and the hallway lit up. Peering over his shoulder from behind him, Lily could see a hallway with six doors- three on each side.

"My parent's room," James pointed to a closed door on his left. "Their bathroom," He pointed to a closed door on the right. "Sirius' room" He pointed to the next door on the left.

"Sirius' room?" Lily interrupted. "Are you two cousins or something?"

James shook his head. "No, Sirius and his family don't get along. He lives with us."

"They don't get along? Why?"

"Sirius and I share that bathroom," James pointed to the next door on the right. "And that's my parent's office." He pointed to the last door on the right. Inside the room Lily could see two large and ornate wooden desks on opposite walls, and book shelves full of books.

Then James finally answered Lily's question. "Sirius doesn't get along with his family because they are Dark wizards and he has never wanted to be like them. Naturally, that causes some friction, especially with his mother. He's been like a brother to me since we met first year at Hogwarts, so my parents let him live with us during holidays. That's my room." He pointed to the last door on the left, closing it hastily before Lily had a chance to peek in. "It's, er, rather messy." He said huskily.

James started up a very steep staircase at the end of the hallway. This staircase was not straight like the one that led from the first floor to the second; it twisted and turned.

"I had no idea about Sirus' family- that's so sad." Lily said as she followed James up the narrow stairs.

"There's a lot about us you don't know," James said as they reached the top of the staircase. Instead of a door, the stairs simply ended and the library spread out before them like a dark, dusty forest with bookshelves for trees.

James took out his wand and waved it. "Lumos!" The end of his wand glowed brightly. "There are no other lights up here, my great grandparents didn't want any candles installed in order to preserve the ancient feel."

"Lumos!" Lily lit up her own wand, and held it above her head. She surveyed the library with awe, not knowing which shelf to look at first.

James saw her hesitation. "Your favorite class in school is Charms, right?" He pointed to a section of shelves straight in front of them. "That part has all kinds of books on charms.

Lily walked over to where James had pointed and gingerly took the first book she saw off its shelf. She handed James her wand so she could hold the book with both hands and carefully opened it.

"This book was written in the thirteenth century!" She breathed in disbelief. "I've seen books like this in the library at Hogwarts, but I'd never expect to find them in someone's home!"

James smiled at her. "It's not really uncommon for Wizard families to have large collections of books centuries old. Magic preserves them, and you can also store as many books as you can possibly collect in any size room if you use the right spell."

"Man, Potter, you are one lucky git," Lily said, not taking her eyes from the ancient pages of the book. "A library of this magnitude is wasted on someone like you, I bet you never even come up here."

"Hey, Evans! That's not fair!" James pretended to be hurt, but couldn't help chuckling. "I'll have you know that I've read my fair share of transfiguration books from this very library!"

Lily looked at him with her head tilted to one side, her bright green eyes twinkling. "Yeah, Transfiguration is your favorite subject isn't it?"

James sat on the top step of the staircase and let Lily explore the library until Sirius called for them from the second floor hallway.

"JAMES! LILY! CHOCOLATE CAAAAAKE!"

James stood up. "Desert's ready." Lily poked her head out from behind a bookshelf. "You can take some books home with you if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead, it's a library isn't it?"

Lily laughed. James turned and walked down the staircase, smiling.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Mrs. Potter was slicing a thick chocolate cake and placing the pieces onto small desert plates.

"Well, what did you find up there?" Mr. Potter asked, pointing to the book Lily had in her hand.

"_The Power of Blood: Ancient Familial Charms_" Lily read the title to Mr. Potter.

"Ah, yes, I've looked through that book once or twice. It has to do with the magical properties of blood and how individuals who are related by blood share special bonds and can improve upon those bonds by the charms described in the book. Very fascinating!"

"If the charms were ancient in 1231 when the book was written, they must be really ancient!" Lily exclaimed. "James said I could borrow it, is that alright?"

Mr. Potter beamed at Lily. "Of course! And when you are finished with that book come back anytime and borrow what you wish."

"Wow, thanks!"

After finishing her cake, Lily told the Potters that she really should be getting back home.

"It's too dark to go home any other way than by Floo powder," Mrs. Potter said, concerned. "Your house is connected to the Network isn't it?"

"Oh yes, that's how I got here, actually."

"Well, James, show Miss Evans out will you?" Mr. Potter said, handing Lily the book she was borrowing. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lily."

"It was really nice to meet you as well, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Thank you so much for dinner!" She gave a small wave and followed James into the family room.

James got down the jar of Floo Powder from the mantle and held it out to Lily so she could take a handful.

"Our address here is Number 1 Godric's Hollow, so when you want to return the book you, um, can." James said awkwardly, not wanting to sound too pushy in asking her back.

"Ok, thanks, Potter." She grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and ducked down into the fireplace. "See you 'round. 151 Perkins Lane!" She flung the powder down at her feet and disappeared in a flash of green flame.

James rejoined his parents and friends in the kitchen.

"What a nice young lady," Mr. Potter mused as he helped himself to a second piece of chocolate cake.

"I like her!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed as she put dishes back into the cupboard with a wave of her wand. "Will we be seeing her again?"

"If Prongs here doesn't blow it," Sirius said teasingly.

"I'm not going to blow it! She's warming up to me!"

"It looked like you were going to crash and burn there for a while in the beginning, though."

"Ahem, well I recovered didn't I, Moony?"

"Yeah, but it was still touch and go there for a bit."

"And she wouldn't have even stayed for dinner if it hadn't been for Moony."

"Yeah! Padfoot's right!"

"Ok, yeah, yeah, thanks, Moony."

"You're welcome. But you better be able to talk to her on your own next time. I can't be here every time Lily comes over."

"If she ever does come over again."

"DAAAD!"

"Sorry, James, couldn't help myself."

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A/N: So the way to Lily's heart is through… your library! Haha! Well, it was a little different from my other chapters- there is a lot less dialogue between the four Marauders, but I figured that with Lily there they wouldn't be their usual Maraudery selves until they got to know her better. I've noticed that a lot of these scenes are taking place at the kitchen table- does anyone mind? Also, I've snuck in a little bit of my plot I have in my head for a Snape fic, I'm really hoping to get that started soon.Lastly, did anyone catch that James said he had been reading transfiguration books? Hmm… why would that be? (hehe) And note the book Lily picked up… 


	6. Gargoyles in the Library

A HUGE 'thank you' goes out to Lisa who helped me with the plot for this chapter! (So let's everyone give her a pat on the back!) Also, a thousand apologies for not having this chapter up sooner! Thanks again to all of the reviewers!

* * *

**An idle Thursday turns into anything but, and a little drama is infused into the Marauder's summer.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR (who is the one who owns these characters), nor am I making any money off of this!

It was early afternoon on a Thursday when James was awakened by screech of an owl and the sensation of something being dropped onto his back.

"Alright, alright, Penni! I'm up!" he yawned lazily as his owl Pennifold landed on her perch on his bedside table in a whirlwind of flapping wings and flying feathers. James rolled over onto his back and peered with groggy eyes at the bundle of post the owl had dropped onto his bed, right next to Mickey the crup. Mickey jumped up, gave a short bark, then grabbed the bundle in his mouth, jumped down from the bed and scampered out of the small doggie hole in James' bedroom door.

"HEY! Mickey! Come back here!" James cried, throwing the covers off and leaping off the bed to chase the crup. As he threw open his door he could hear the twinkling of Mickey's collar as he ran down the stairs and through the downstairs hallway.

James banged on Sirius' bedroom door. "SIRIUS! WAKE UP!"

From within the room Sirius groaned loudly. "Shut up, Prongs! I'm sleeping!"

"Not anymore! Get your bum out of bed!" James figured if he had to be awake so did his best friend. He walked down the long hallway and made his way quickly down the stairs.

Mickey was sitting up on his haunches on a chair at the kitchen table, the bundle of mail in his mouth. James grabbed it and tossed it on the table, and bent down to scratch Mickey behind his ears.

"You silly little guy!" He said as he gave the crup a playful pat.

James tuned the Wizarding Wireless to a rock station, then retrieved two pieces of bread from the bread box and stuffed them into the toaster. He then rummaged through the refrigerator, found a jar of orange marmalade and a carton of pumpkin juice, and carried them to the table. His toast sprung up from the toaster, landed on a plate that had levitated out of a nearby cupboard and floated slowly over to rest next to the marmalade. Bobbing his head up and down to the beat of the music coming from the Wireless, James spread marmalade on his toast and read the headlines of the Daily Prophet, which was lying on the table, left over from when his parents had had their breakfast hours earlier.

He was about to take a bite out of the toast when he heard a pop and a familiar voice behind him.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone home? Potter is that you?"

James turned around to see Lily's head in the small fireplace next to the oven. He was so surprised he almost dropped his toast.

"Lily!" His voice sounded shrill with surprise. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Evans. Hi. What's going on?"

"Well, er, I've finished that book I borrowed; I was wondering if now was a good time to return it." Lily spoke quickly and nervously.

James' insides jumped with joy, but he tried to remain cool on the outside. "Oh, sure, just come on through the family room fireplace. I'm in the kitchen." James paused, realizing the obviousness of his last sentence, and grimaced. "Yeah, um, yeah, just come on through whenever."

"Okay," With a pop Lily was gone. A few seconds later she came walking through the swinging kitchen door, holding the ancient book in her hand. She looked at James sitting at the table, still in his red and gold striped Gryffindor pajama pants, Quidditch t-shirt, and rumpled hair and smiled bemusedly. "Just wake up, Potter? Or are you going for the pajama party look today?"

James' eyes widened as he looked down at his clothes and realized he was still wearing his night clothes. Wishing he could dash from the room and put on something more presentable, he answered, "Erm, I did just wake up, actually. It's summer holiday, you know, I don't have to get up at 6 a.m. to go to class."

"Ah." Lily placed the book down on the table and sat down. She tapped the fingers on her left hand softly on the tabletop and looked around the kitchen, avoiding looking directly at James.

"Are you hungry? Would you like some toast and marmalade?" James graciously offered her his plate. "Or do you want some lunch? We have some great leftover roast beef and Dad made his famous rye bread yesterday."

Before Lily could answer, a still sleepy Sirius, wearing only a pair of white boxer shorts, came through the kitchen from the hallway door, rubbing his eyes with one hand and pulling at the back of his shorts with the other.

"Yeah, thanks for banging on my door, Prongs, I really wanted to be awakened by the sound of the house coming down around me," Sirius said sarcastically as he made a beeline for the refrigerator and peeked in. "Where's the pumpkin juice?" he yawned.

"Here on the table," James said, looking apologetically at Lily, who was wide eyed and blushing with embarrassment. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Sirius beat him to it.

"Never mind, I'll just drink milk." He reached for the milk and started drinking right from the carton. He smacked his lips and turned around. "Ahh, delicious! So today I thought we'd- BLOODY HELL!" He yelped as he saw Lily for the first time.

"Yeah, Padfoot, would ya mind putting some clothes on- we have a visitor." James said, sounding annoyed, but obviously holding back laughter

"I'll be right back," Sirius whispered, and dashed from the room as dignified as he could.

James and Lily looked at each other, then burst into laughter.

"I'm really sorry," James managed to say between fits of laughter.

"It's ok. Does he do that every morning? Because I know a lot of Hogwarts girls who'd pay to see a show like that."

"Yeah, I bet!" James took a bite out of his toast as Sirius re-entered the kitchen, this time wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "Well, look who's back! Lily and I are planning on letting spectators join us for breakfast from now on, we plan on making a pretty galleon from you," James teased his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny." Sirius said, swiping James' second piece of toast and cramming into his mouth. "H'was I supos'd t'know Lilywashr?" He finished chewing the toast. "How are you anyway, Lily?"

"Great." Lily answered. "I came by to return the book I borrowed."

"Do you want another?" James asked.

"Er, sure, if that's cool."

"Of course. Hey, did you want something to eat? It is just about lunchtime."

"That roast beef and rye bread you mentioned sounds good."

James got up to make Lily a sandwich. When he was finished and had placed it in front of her, he excused himself to go upstairs and get changed. While he was gone Lily started in on the sandwich while Sirius began frying up a few eggs for himself.

"My O.W.L. results came today, did you guys get yours?" Lily asked Sirius.

"Uuum, I dunno, hey James, did the post come yet?" Sirius asked James as he came back into the kitchen wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"Oh yeah, it's on the table- why?"

"Lily said her O.W.L. results came today."

"Is that so?" James lifted up the Daily Prophet to inspect the post. Sure enough, two large identical parchment envelopes, addressed to James and Sirius, were lying on top of the stack. "How were your scores, Evans?"

"Twelve O.W.L.s" Lily said proudly.

"Congratulations, that's great!" James said enthusiastically, handing Sirius his envelope. The two boys opened their envelopes and read the contents individually.

"Well?" James asked Sirius.

"Twelve!" Sirius shouted excitedly.

"Me too!" James shouted back, throwing the envelope and letter into the air. He and Sirius exchanged a high five and did a funky dance around the kitchen island. Lily looked on, one eyebrow raised, but a small smile forming in the corners of her mouth.

"I don't believe you two! You goof off all of the time, from what I see you never study, and you pulled off twelve O.W.L.s!"

"Oh, come on, Evans, we study lots!"

Lily gave James a look. He chuckled sheepishly. "Er, ok, so we don't. Hey, can I help it if I have talent coming out of my ears?"

"You have something coming out of you, Potter, but it's not talent, and it's not coming out of your ears, but your ass."

"Ouch, she got you there, Prongs. But, Lily, you did just as well, don't be mad." Sirius said, sliding his eggs onto a plate.

"We should Floo Moony!" James said, as if he had just thought to do so. "I bet he got twelve too!"

"Oh, yeah," Sirius said, putting down his plate, grabbing some Floo Powder from a small jar on the counter, and throwing it into the small fireplace. "Fifty-five York Circle!"

James stood next to Sirius and nudged him in the arm with his elbow. "Hey, move over, I want to talk to him too." Sirius obliged and they both peered into the small green flames.

"Helloooooo?" Sirius called through the fireplace.

"MOOOOONY!" James called as well.

Lily heard Remus' voice on the other side of the fire.

"Is something wrong, James?"

"Naw, you git- O.W.L. scores came today!"

"Yeah, Moony, whatcha get?"

"Twelve, same as I'm sure you two prats got."

"You betcha!"

"Wonderful. I love how I study day and night, you two goof off the whole school year, and we still get the same marks."

"Funny, Lily said the same thing."

"Yeah? Well she's a smart girl. Wait, when did you talk to Lily?"

"She's here now."

"Oh yeah?" Remus' voice sounded congratulatory. James looked over his shoulder quickly, then looked back, and put his index finger to his lips- trying to indicate to Remus that he should be quiet. Lily rolled her eyes at James' back.

"Hi, Remus," She called loudly so her voice would carry through the fireplace.

"Er, hi Lily," Remus called back.

"Well, Moony, we'd love to stand her all day and chat with you, but Evans wants to take another look at the library, so I've got to go. Do you want to come over later?"

"I was actually going to go to my parents' shop for a bit, I wanted to show them the O.W.L. letter, but I could come over in a few hours."

"Okay, just come on over whenever you can, I don't think we're going anywhere."

"Alright. Hey, have you talked to Peter yet?"

"No."

"He Flooed just before you did. He got three O.W.L.S- was really excited about it, too. So don't go teasing him about his marks if he Flooes you as well."

"Does he want to come over as well?"

"Can't, his mom wants him to stay put today. You know how she is."

"Bummer, oh well, see you later!"

"Bye, guys."

James and Sirius backed away from the small fireplace and turned around.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Sirius said as he gobbled down the last bits of egg from his plate.

"Good, you stink," James ducked as Sirius' fork went whizzing by his head. Lily laughed. James grinned. "C'mon, Evans, let's go get you another book."

Lily followed James upstairs, through the long hallway, then back up the twisting and narrow staircase leading to the Potter's library.

The library looked different in the daylight. Sunlight streamed in from a line of tall windows on the eastern wall and brilliantly lit up the expansive high-ceilinged room. On the three remaining walls hung old pictures of witches and wizards, most of them reading books or snoozing.

Lily put back _The Power of Blood: Ancient Familial Charms_ and quickly immersed herself in perusing the Charms section. James sat down in a deep arm chair near the windows and let her look in silence for a few minutes before tentatively trying to strike up a conversation.

"So, Evans, what have you been doing with yourself all summer?" He called to her from across the room.

She answered without taking her eyes off of the bookshelves, continuing to finger the spines of the books and read the titles in her head while she answered James out loud.

"My family went on a week's holiday to Paris as soon as I came home from Hogwarts. But besides that, I've been mostly reading and doing our summer assignments."

"The summer assignments?" James said incredulously.

Lily added two books to the growing pile in her arms. "You know, the supplemental Transfiguration readings, the ten Potions essays, the Defense Against the Dark Arts book reports…"

"I know what the assignments are! I just haven't started them yet," James interrupted.

"Shocker," Lily said under her breath sarcastically.

"Heard that!" James answered. "Why've you started them so soon?"

"I have finished them actually."

"Finished! Good grief!

"If you haven't noticed, Potter, there's a lot of work to do, I thought it best to start early."

"Eh, I'll start eventually. I don't usually finish all of the work though."

Now it was Lily's turn to be disbelieving. "You _don't_? But you get detentions if you don't finish the assignments!"

"Phooey, what's so bad about detention anyway? Sirius and I are usually in it together, so we don't care."

Lily poked her head out of the line of bookshelves to look James squarely in the eyes. "You actually _like_ detention?"

James shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not saying I always like it, but it's not bad. If I have to spend a couple nights cleaning out broom closets or scrubbing the floor in the Great Hall in order to avoid doing homework during the summer, then it's worth it. Besides, half of the time they put Sirius and me with Hagrid for detention, and he's loads of fun- we've gotten to see some pretty cool stuff in the Forbidden Forest."

Lily was aghast at James' flippant attitude. "But don't you feel like you should do the assignments simply because they are assigned and we're supposed to do them!" She carried her heavy armful of books over to an empty armchair next to James'. He stood up quickly and rescued a few books from falling from the top of the wavering pile.

"I don't need to learn the material by doing homework, Evans."

"Whoo hoo hoo, look who thinks he knows it all," Lily said, annoyed.

"Oh give me a break, you can't tell me you actually need to study so hard yourself, Miss Twelve O.W.L.S. Don't even try to pretend you aren't as smart as I know you are."

Lily felt a small surge of pride at James' compliment, but quickly covered it up with a stern reply, "Well I prefer to read, do homework and improve my mind and revel in the joy of discovery and learning instead of acting like a git with too much time on his hands who has to amuse himself by clowning around and picking on students who aren't as popular as he."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Evans."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure you don't, because the last week of school was _soooo_ long ago that no one can remember it, ay Potter?" Lily's voice was heavy with sarcasm.

James crossed his arms. "You're still sore about that day by the lake when Sirius and I were dueling with Snivellus, aren't you?"

"His name is _Severus_, Potter," Lily interrupted, her voice dark.

"Like I said, _Snivellus_," James looked at Lily intently. "Why are you so quick to defend him?"

"Why are you so quick to pick on him?"

"You heard my father weeks ago! His whole family is full of Dark Wizards- the worst Dark wizards there are! You can't tell me he isn't too!"

"I just don't like to judge people without getting to know them!" Lily spit back.

"Oh, please, don't get all self righteous on me, Evans. The moment Snape entered Hogwarts he was none too quick with cursing anyone who got in his way, even if they were Slytherins! You can't tell me you don't remember?"

"I had a lot going on those first few months at Hogwarts, Potter. You know, with being a Muggleborn and all- trying to get accustomed to a totally new world and environment that up until then I had no idea existed. Spoiled adolescent boys perpetuating their Pureblood family feuds at school were the last thing that would have blipped on my radar screen."

There was something in Lily's voice that made James stop and take notice. He had never considered before what Hogwarts would be like for someone not accustomed to the Wizarding world. For a brief moment he found himself imagining what it would have been like in Lily's shoes as an eleven year old being put on a train to a boarding school where she had no friends, nor knew anything about the lives her fellow students lived. For the first time in his life, he had a glimpse of what it felt like to be lonely and scared.

James' voice softened. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You wouldn't have noticed a thing like that, would you?"

Lily opened a book and pretended to read. "No, I wouldn't have." Her voice was quiet.

"Well, I'd say you've acclimated extremely well, Evans." James said brightly, trying to improve the mood of their conversation. "You're always competing with Sirius, Remus, and I for head of the class- and you're a prefect to boot. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you are Head Girl someday."

"Thanks, Potter. I'd say I've acclimated extremely well too." This time she accepted his compliment without reserve.

James smiled at Lily, although she didn't know it because her head was down and she was reading. "There is something that you are wrong about, though." He said, firmly, yet cautiously.

Lily looked up. "What's that?"

"You called us spoiled adolescent boys. I know it may seem like I'm spoiled the way I act sometimes, but don't think that Sirius has ever been spoiled or treated well by his family. He had a pretty tough childhood."

"You've mentioned that."

"It's as true now as it was two weeks ago."

"You'd never know it to look at him."

"Well it's not exactly something he tells the world, is it? Besides, it's not like he cares; he dislikes his family as much as they dislike him."

"That's really too bad."

James shrugged his shoulders. "It's just how it is, Sirius accepts that and deals with it accordingly. He's pretty much put the differences with his family behind him and moved on- it's the rest of the Slytherins that haven't and try to make trouble."

"What do you mean?" Lily looked puzzled.

"Well, his whole family has been in Slytherin for centuries- most likely ever since Hogwarts was founded- and he was expected to be in Slytherin too. When he was sorted into Gryffindor not only was his family furious and humiliated, but his parents' friends and colleagues- all Dark wizards too- saw him as a blood traitor, and their children, the Slytherin students at Hogwarts, try to bully him around."

"Oh." Lily said simply.

"Yeah, so all those times you see us "hexing someone for no reason", it is not necessarily what it looks like. There's a very undercover and secret guerilla warfare going on between us and the Slytherins."

Lily looked at James as if she was not quite sure she should believe him. "Are you telling the truth, Potter?"

"Godric's honor," James said, raising his hand.

Lily squinted her eyes at him. "And I suppose you will tell me next that Snape is right in the middle of all of this?"

"Nah, he pretty much leaves Sirius alone. I'm the one who doesn't like the slimy trouser snake."

"Why?"

"Because he oozes Dark magic, isn't it obvious? I'm telling you, he's going to grow up to join his father right in Voldemort's inner circle, and when I graduate I'm going to join my parents as an auror- I want him to know just what he's going to be up against."

"Yowsers, all of these Pureblood politics certainly can give you a headache," Lily pressed her fingertips to her temple. "But I think instead of assuming all that about Snape you should talk to him and see if it is really true,"

"No one ever said life as a Wizard was easy." James said. "And, no, I don't want to talk to Snape. He doesn't want to talk to me either."

"Potter, you really can be impossible!"

James grinned at Lily, then stood up out his armchair and walked to the line of windows.

"Found your next great read yet, Evans?" He said, peering up through the window, squinting and shading his eyes against the sun.

"This one looks really good," Lily held up a thick volume. "It will really help me with Advanced Charms!" She picked at the front cover a bit with her fingernail. "It's a little moldy, though, but I guess that happens to old books, right?"

James did not respond; instead something in the sky held his gaze. Lily looked up and around her chair at him when her question received no response and saw that his eyes were fixated on one point on the horizon, his eyebrows knit together. Lily stood up and joined him at the window.

"What are you looking at?" Lily asked James.

"There's a flock of something coming this way, I'm not sure what it is."

Lily tried to look over the tops of the trees that outlined the Potter's front yard. Beyond the trees, coming closer with great speed was indeed a flock of what looked like to be about five winged animals heading west.

"What are they, geese?"

"I don't know," James craned his neck forward, a confused look on his face. The sound of heavy wings was very close now. The flock seemed to drop in altitude and head straight for the Potter's house.

"What on Earth?" Lily exclaimed as she tried to strain forward to see.

"GET BACK!" James shouted, throwing his left arm out in front of Lily and stepping back, forcing her to retreat backwards as well. His right hand immediately whipped his wand out of his jeans pocket.

Lily stumbled back several feet before she could catch her balance. She too pulled out her wand just as something seemed to hit the window she had been standing in front of with such tremendous force that the whole house seemed to tremble. With a horrific crash, the entire line of windows on the eastern wall shattered.

"Repairo!" James exclaimed and the shards of glass sprung back into their panels, making the windows whole once more. James and Lily stood side by side, still facing the windows.

"What's going on, Potter?" Lily asked, frightened.

Before James could answer, a dark shape appeared at the window. It was what looked like to be a large, grey, stone gargoyle, only instead of being made of stone this creature was alive and had tough leathery skin. Wings four feet in length flapped steadily as the creature hovered in the air and looked at Lily and James with pupil-less flame red eyes.

"It's like some kind of gargoyle," Lily whispered. "Can it get in?" All around the house the sound of flapping wings was deadening. Lily swallowed thickly.

"It tried to break the window before," James said, still holding his wand up. "But I think some kind of magic must have repelled it because it was thrown back."

Now three gargoyles were staring at them through the windows. Two more could be seen swooping up and down behind them. As if on cue, the three gargoyles pulled back then came flying at the windows with great speed.

This time, James and Lily were ready. As soon as the creatures hit the windows, the glass crashed into pieces as before, but with a loud "REPAIRO!" both James and Lily restored the windows. The gargoyles snarled in frustration.

"What the devil is going on up here?" Sirus exclaimed as he vaulted up the spiral staircase. He appeared at the top with his t-shirt on backwards- he had thrown it on in a hurry, and his black hair still wet from the shower. He saw James and Lily standing at attention and looked in the direction their wands were pointed. Seeing the gargoyles he muttered an expletive and pulled out his wand.

"What should we do?" Sirius asked, quickly crossing the room to join James and Lily.

"Pray that they don't come through the window," James said firmly, his jaw set.

"Should we go Floo for help?" Lily asked, biting her lip.

"We can't now, we need to stick together, and if we leave this window they'll come through it for sure."

"There are windows all over this house, Prongs, who's to say they won't just come in through one we aren't defending?"

James didn't have time to respond because at that moment, and with one fluid movement, all five of the creatures charged the window and burst through, spraying bits of glass everywhere. The three teenagers threw themselves down on the ground to avoid the flying shards of glass. James rolled onto his back just in time to see a gargoyle about to sweep down on Sirius.

"STUPEFY!" He shouted. The spell hit the creature, throwing it backwards, but not stunning it.

"Get up!" Lily pulled at James' arm while sending stunning spells at the gargoyles flying and screeching overhead. Like James' attempt, the spells merely caused the creatures to be hurled backwards.

"They must have tough skin!" James shouted as he grabbed Lily's outstretched hand and pulled himself off of the floor.

Sirius sprang up on his own. "Try hitting them in the eye!" He aimed his wand at the eye of the closest gargoyle and shouted "CONJUCTIVITUS!" It recoiled in pain and fell out of the air with a loud thud. Sirius pointed his wand at its eye again and shouted "STUPEFY!". Finally the gargoyle went limp.

"HA!" Sirius shouted in triumph, not seeing another gargoyle flying at him from behind. With its big claws it grabbed him by the shoulders, flung him across the room, and into a large bookshelf, which immediately fell over with a crash, burying Sirius under a mountain of books.

"Sirius!" James exclaimed while Lily screamed. He tried to run to his friend, but a gargoyle blocked his way. The winged creature hovered menacingly in the air in front of James, snarling and baring its long razor sharp fangs.

"STUPEFY!" James hit the gargoyle in the eye with the stunning spell and dashed over to where Sirius was laying, covered in old books.

"STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!" Three more gargoyles fell to the ground as Lily cursed them and dashed over to Sirius and James. Together, she and James threw books off of Sirius.

"Is he ok?" Lily panted, heaving an especially large text to the side.

"He's still breathing, but I think he's been knocked out," James responded gravely. His eyes landed on Sirius' shoulders where the gargoyle's claws and dug into his skin. "He's got these nasty cuts, too."

Lily pointed to James. "So do you,"

James looked down at his front, where blood was seeping through a long diagonal cut in his shirt. "Yeah, one swiped at me as they came through the window. Eh, it's nothing… ARGH!" He grimaced in pain and clutched at the wound.

Lily grabbed for his hands. "Don't touch it! Here let me help," She pointed her wand at James' chest. "_Anesthisiate_!"

James felt the pain lessen. "Thanks, Evans."

Before Lily could respond she and James heard thumps downstairs.

"Someone's coming up the stairs!" James hissed. He and Lily stood up quickly with their wands at the ready and approached the stairway.

A loud voice bellowed up at them from below. "JAMES? SIRIUS?"

"Dad! We're up here!" James called down.

"What in Merlin's name are you and Sirius up to, son? The Improper Use of Magic Office detected an unusual amount of spell occurrences here." Mr. Potter's voice sounded angry as he appeared at the top of the staircase, followed by Mrs. Potter. They stopped short when the caught sight of James' bloody shirt, Sirius lying unconscious among the toppled bookshelf and books, and the bodies of the stunned gargoyles.

"I don't know what they are, Dad. I was up here letting Lily look around the library when all of a sudden they flew in from nowhere and attacked the house." James tried to explain.

"I'll go for an Investigation Team, Harry." Mrs. Potter said to her husband, then immediately Disapparated.

Mr. Potter immediately inspected James' and Sirius' wounds. "Yours is a clean cut, James, but it's deep- we'll have a medi-wizard take a look at it. Sirius' looks more serious, but he'll be fine after a stay at St. Mungo's."

Mr. Potter then surveyed the gargoyles. "Transylvanian Gargoyles, probably the most vicious species in existence. You three were very lucky to have so successfully stunned them." He looked closely at one unconscious creature. "Yup, stunned right good, they are."

"Lily got most of them," James said.

Mr. Potter turned to Lily and beamed at her. "Well, James and Sirius were lucky you stopped in to see them today, weren't they?"

"We worked as a team, really," Lily said modestly, but quietly and out of breath. A funny pain in her stomach was growing, and she backed into one of the tall wingback chairs.

Mr. Potter and James approached her with concern. "Are you okay?"

Lily looked up at them and tried to smile. "Yes, I'm just a little overwhelmed that's all."

"That's understandable," Mr. Potter peered down at Lily. "I think we'll have a medi-wizard have a look at you too." He patted her shoulder and went back to kneel by Sirius.

"Okay," Lily whispered. The pain in her stomach was intensifying and becoming unbearable. She wished she could perform the Anisthesiate charm on herself, but her hand was too weak to lift her wand.

"James," Lily tried to raise her voice to ask him to perform the charm, but could only manage a murmur.

"The medi-wizards will be here soon, Evans. EVANS!" James yelped as he jumped to catch Lily as she fell forward in the chair and nearly tumbled to the floor. "Dad, she's fainted!"

At that moment Mrs. Potter Apparated, accompanied by aurors and medi-wizards.

"Move over, young man, we'll take over from here," A witch in medical robes took Lily from James' arms and levitated her onto a stretcher, which another medic had conjured. Across the room two other medi-wizards were doing the same thing to Sirius.

"Can you hold on here?" the medi-witch said to James, pointing to the end of Lily's stretcher.

James grasped hold of the end of the stretcher. Sirius' stretcher floated over to rest side by side with Lily's, followed by the other medics who also held onto the ends of the stretcher.

"They'll be on the first floor at St. Mungo's, Elizabeth- on the Creature Induced Injuries Corridor." The medi-witch told Mrs. Potter as she picked up a book from the floor and tapped it with her wand; the book glowed blue for a split second.

Mrs. Potter nodded then addressed her son. "We'll be there to see you soon, James- just as soon as we finish up the investigation here."

"Okay," James answered. The head medi-witch held out the book and the other medics grasped hold. James did the same, and instantly they were transported to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

* * *

A/N: For those who may be curious, I named James' owl after Daisy Pennifold, the witch who started bewitching the Quaffle so it would not drop to the ground. (See JKR's _Quidditch Through the Ages_). I figured that that would be a fitting name for James' owl seeing as how he was a Quidditch player and probably had read that book!

Also, a "crup" is a magical creature I found in JKR's _Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them_. It is merely a creature who looks exactly like a Jack Russell Terrier, only with a forked tail. According to _Fantastical Beasts_, wizards keep them as pets, just like Muggles keep dogs. Unfortunately, I wasn't bright enough to cleverly name the crup with a name found from the Harry Potter world like I did for James' owl!

I wasn't really sure if gargoyles are evil… but I needed some kind of flying creature so that is what I came up with!

The term "trouser snake" I got from the movie _Ferris Beuhller's Day Off_. I really hope it doesn't mean something horribly offensive in the U.K., I just always thought that term was hilarious.

Keep an eye out for the next chapter to find out what happened to Lily and to find out who sent the gargoyles; I have part of it planned out, so I'm hoping to get it out faster than this one! Thanks for reading!


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